Resources

Client Alerts, News Articles, Blog Posts, & Multimedia

Everything you need to know about BMD and the industry.

The Masks Are Back: New OSHA Regulations for Healthcare Employers

Client Alert
June 11, 2021

Employment Law After Hours is back with a News Break Episode. Yesterday, OSHA published new rules for healthcare facilities, including hospitals, home health employers, nursing homes, ambulance companies, and assisted living facilities. These new rules are very cumbersome, requiring mask wearing for all employees, even those that are vaccinated. The only exception is for fully vaccinated employees (2 weeks post final dose) who are in a "well-defined" area where there is no reasonable expectation that any person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 will be present.

These new regulations also require the implementation of a compliant COVID-19 safety policy, COVID case record keeping for employees (regardless of whether the infection came from work or outside of work), and it discusses and requires many of the best practices most of our healthcare clients have followed since day one, among other requirements. Many of the regulations require implementation within 14 to 30 days, so your clients will want to speak with their OSHA expert as soon as possible. BMD has a few OSHA knowledgeable attorneys that can be available to answer questions/concerns. Your clients will want to implement these new requirements alongside their OSHA certified employees who handle existing OSHA issues/concerns.

Stephen Matasich, one of our resident OSHA attorneys, has also published a client alert for general industry employers other than healthcare.

What healthcare providers are specifically exempt from these new regulations?

  1. Non-Hospital Ambulatory Care Setting where (a) all non-employees are screened prior to entry, and (b) people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter.
  2. Hospital Ambulatory Care Setting where (a) all employees are fully vaccinated, (b) all non-employees are screened prior to entry, and (c) people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter.
  3. Home Healthcare Setting when (a) all employees are fully vaccinated, (b) all non-employees are screened prior to entry, and (c) people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 are not permitted to enter.

The new OSHA regulations also require these employers to provide paid leave for vaccination obtainment, and its side effects, which we previously covered in an ELAH episode, link provided below. I also provided the link to the mandatory vaccine episode as healthcare clients may now desire to implement a mandatory vaccine policy given these new requirements.

Link to watch this Breaking News episode on the new OSHA requirements is here: https://youtu.be/vPyXmKwOzsk

Link to Paid COVID Leave (including Vaccination Obtainment) is here: https://youtu.be/NOv0_R_SMpg

Link to Episode on Mandatory Vaccine Policies is here: https://youtu.be/rWqGbOzWzWw and https://youtu.be/5CrBCjK2rv8 (with updated EEOC guidance).

For more information, please feel free to contact BMD Labor + Employment Partner Bryan Meek at bmeek@bmdllc.com or 330.253.5586.

OSHAHealthcare and Hospital LawBryan MeekEmployement Law
Client Alert

Corporate Transparency Act: Business Owners Must Act Now

July 10, 2024The Corporate Transparency Act requires all reporting companies to file their Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report by year-end to avoid penalties. Companies formed before January 1, 2024, have less than six months to comply. Learn more in a client alert by BMD Member Blake Gerney.Client Alert

New Medicare Billing Rules: What MFTs, MHCs, and IOP Providers Need to Know

July 9, 2024Starting January 1, 2024, Medicare began covering services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) services. With this change, Medicare has become the primary payer for these services.Client Alert

Chevron Doctrine No More: What the Supreme Court’s Ruling Means for Agency Authority

July 2, 2024On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court invalidated the Chevron doctrine, nearly 40 years after it first took effect.Client Alert

Ohio Board of Pharmacy Update: Key Regulatory Changes and Proposals You Need to Know

June 26, 2024The Ohio Board of Pharmacy (BOP) has rescinded certain OAC rules (OAC 4729:5-18-01 through 4729:5-18-06), removing regulations on office-based opioid treatment (OBOT) clinics. The rescissions took effect on June 3, 2024. The BOP also published a new rule, OAC 4729:8-5-01, which sets explicit reporting guidelines for licensed dispensaries and became effective on June 7, 2024.Client Alert

LGBTQIA+ Patients and Discrimination in Healthcare

June 6, 2024In early April, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a study outlining the challenges that LGBT adults face in the United States related to healthcare. According to the study, LGBT patients are “twice as likely as non-LGBT adults to report negative experiences while receiving health care in the last three years, including being treated unfairly or with disrespect (33% v. 15%) or having at least one of several other negative experiences with a provider (61% v. 31%), including a provider assuming something about them without asking, suggesting they were personally to blame for a health problem, ignoring a direct request or question, or refusing to prescribe needed pain medication.”
Older posts